Thursday, January 31, 2013

Before taking up a permanent residence in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mimi spent time living near NYC (became a shopaholic), in Mexico City (developed a taste for very spicy food), and Arizona (now hates jumping chollas, but pines for sherbet sunsets). Her love of pre-Hispanic culture, big cities, and romance inspires her to write when she’s not busy with kids, hubby, work, and life…or getting sucked into a juicy novel.

She hopes that someday, leather pants for men will make a big comeback and that her writing might make you laugh when you need it most.

The Determined Vampire: Niccolo DiConti has faithfully served as leader of Her Majesty’s army for over a millennium, but he’d rather sunbathe in the Sahara than spend another grueling day under his demented queen’s command. However, no one has ever left her side and lived to tell. So when a powerful goddess prophesies he will meet his salvation—a human woman he must turn into a vampire with her consent—he eagerly rises to the challenge. After all, how hard could it be to seduce a human female into taking the immortal plunge? Harder than he thinks. Because his mate won’t be born for another three centuries, and when he wakes up in the goddess’ tomb, not only is his life a mess, but his destined female isn’t about to settle for a coldhearted vampire. Can he win her over before it’s too late? Not if his enemies have anything to do with it.

An Unwilling Bride: On the night Helena Strauss meets the fierce, devastatingly handsome vampire who saves her life in the jungles of Mexico, she knows her world will be forever changed. Because an attraction this mind blowing only comes along once in a lifetime—or existence. And when he claims she is his one true mate, destined to be his for all eternity, it’s a fairytale come true. So what if her knight in shining armor is a vampire? Nobody’s perfect. But discovering the powerful, overbearing immortal doesn’t “do love”? Deal breaker. Helena will flee and set out to accomplish the impossible…sever the otherworldly bond between them. And it turns out, Helena is just the leverage Niccolo’s enemies need to break the mighty warrior and wipe out his people.

Giveaway of Two (2) Print Copies of 'Accidentally Married to...A Vampire?' by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Helena’s tense body swooned when the force of his lips met hers. He pulled her greedily into his hard frame and moved his strong hands to grip her waist. It felt like he had claimed her as his personal prize. It felt euphoric. Owned by a sex god!

Wait! What the hell am I doing? She broke the kiss and pushed him away again. “This is insane. I don’t know who you are or how I got here, but you have to let me go. You have the wrong person.”

“However, you are correct, bella. This is insanity. And as much as I would like to show you the depths of my lunacy - and the things it is asking me to do to your succulent body at this very moment - we must go. Before they come for me.”

That sounded ominous. “Who are ‘they’?” Wait. Did she want to know?

“It is forbidden to speak of such things to a human, but I vow the day will come when there will be no secrets between us.” The naked warrior held out his hand. “Come, mio cuore.”

Helena shivered. Something about that explanation left her feeling substantially more terrified. Why couldn’t humans know? And what exactly was he? If the scientist in her had no answers, then better not stick around to find out.

Helena nodded. She took his hand - it was cool to the touch, yet heated her skin at the same time - and followed him through the chamber toward the doorway. As they reached the passage, Helena nonchalantly dipped down and grabbed a golden statue. It reminded her of an Oscar. In fact, she could swear there was an inscription on its base.

Sally Field? Too dark to know for certain.

She quickly jumped and struck Niccolo in the back of his head with all her strength. He stumbled to the side. She squeezed past him down the passage. The moment she burst from the temple into the night, the stupidity of her plan hit home. How far could she get?

At least he was barefoot, bare everything - sigh - and she still had on her low-tops. That might give her the advantage. Question was, would she find her way back to civilization? She had to try.

Helena pushed frantically with her hands through rough branches and vines. They lashed at her face and scratched her arms and legs. She ran straight into a tree trunk.

She cupped her nose. Ow! That hurt!

Thankfully, it wasn’t broken.

She slid around the enormous tree, panting and sweating. She continued on with her hands extended, wondering if running through the jungle, unable to see a g*******d thing, was actually more dangerous than trying her luck with that man. Were there any cliffs around here?

Helena tripped and landed on her knees, reopening the cut. “Son of a - ” She cupped her hands over her mouth. She quickly picked herself up and slammed right into something hard again. Another tree? She probed hesitantly with her hands.

Nope. Not a tree.

“Well, well…What have we here?” said a deep, unfamiliar voice.Helena screamed.

Two steel hands grasped her shoulders. “Hush, hush, now…” The voice was low and menacing.

She couldn’t see so much as an outline of a body or face. “Who the hell are you?”

“I go by Rodrigo. You may call me ‘Lucky.’ It’s been eons since I’ve dined on such a pure Forbidden, and your fresh blood smells…” - he paused and inhaled deeply - “divine.”

Yes. Running away had been a bad choice. Helena kicked and fought, but whatever held her was a thousand times stronger. She suddenly felt his hot tongue run down her neck.“Ummm. Delicious.”

He tasted her? Holy s**t! “Let me go!” Helena shrieked. The man wrapped his unyielding arms around her waist and crushed her into his body.

“Release her, Rodrigo.” Niccolo’s deep voice sliced through the night like a welcome knife. “Or I will rip out your entrails and force you to swallow them. Repeatedly.”

Rodrigo froze, but did not loosen his painful grip on her body. Like a caveman trying to hold on to a drumstick, she thought.

“So, the anonymous tip was right.” Rodrigo’s voice was filled with arrogance. “You’re just the vampire we’ve been looking for.”

Vampire? Did he just say “vampire”? Helena’s frazzled body took what little energy it had left to resist fainting. She shook her head.

Apparently, the two men could see each other. That figures; all monsters can see in the dark.

“I am uncertain of what happened to the old black while I have been indisposed,” Niccolo replied flatly. “But I have no interest in indulging your urges to discuss my legendary body. I do, however, want you to let my woman go.”

Monday, January 28, 2013

5. Too Close to the Edge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)Kathryn Meyer Griffith's Spooky Short Stories Book 4Length: 19 pagesGenre: Short StoryStarted/Finished: 28 January 2013Where did it come from? From AmazonHow long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 25 December 2012Why do I have it? I am beginning to like reading short stories and I have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Penelope had been looking forward to going with her husband, sister and brother-in-law on a road trip to visit the Grand Canyon. As an artist who was going through a temporary artistic dry spell, Penelope hoped that seeing the majestic Grand Canyon would enlighten her spirit and give her possible ideas for future paintings. Penelope was willing to try to overcome her terrifying fear of heights to go on this trip with her family. And Penelope was certainly looking forward to the vacation until she got there and couldn't bear to get too close to the edge.

She watched in terror as various sightseers balanced on one foot, acting foolish, taking photos - completely oblivious to the certain death waiting below them at their feet. Their careless antics made her dizzy, took her breath away. Scared her. Especially when the woman beside her relates the tragic story of a small child who fell to her death into the Canyon the day before.

Many people died that way - falling over the edge of the Grand Canyon. Many people also died down inside the Canyon - hikers and other people who are disoriented by the triple digit temperature, people who drowned in the river going through the rapids. Then Penelope witnesses a young girl fall over the edge of the Grand Canyon and no one believes her frantic account. For there was no child who had died - that day anyway. Was she seeing things that weren't there...or was there another explanation?

I really enjoyed this short story. The characters were well-crafted, and I felt that the story's ending wrapped up any loose ends very nicely, in my opinion. I give this story an A+! A+! - (96-100%)

6. Running With the Train by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)Kathryn Meyer Griffith's Spooky Short Stories Book 3Length: 26 pagesGenre: Short StoryStarted/Finished: 28 January 2013Where did it come from? From AmazonHow long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 November 2012Why do I have it? I am beginning to like reading short stories and I have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Sarah has been lonely most of her life. She's been searching for a love that she has begun to believe will never come to her. Her family and friends back home depend on her, need her...but they can't give her what she truly wants. True, eternal love. Like wolves have.

So, as a solitary traveler, desperate to try something new and get away, Sarah goes on the adventure of a lifetime to the Grand Canyon; rides the train from Williams to the South Rim and sees several huge wolves running alongside the train. Sees them in the evening twilight scurrying unbelievably along the ledges of the Grand Canyon among the trees. She's told that there aren't any wolves living in the region anymore but at night she hears their haunting cries.

No one else sees them and no one else hears them. Just Sarah. Have her senses left her; her loneliness made her crazy? For these are wolves...unearthly prowling creatures that follow and achingly call to her...and in the end Sarah must decide what she will do when she finally comes face to face with one of these phantom wolves.

I enjoyed this short story very much. Like all of Kathryn Meyer Griffith's stories that I have read, I found that the characters were well-drawn and very believable. If I did have one problem with this story, it would be that the ending was almost too quick and easily wrapped up for me. I give this story an A! and I am eagerly looking forward to reading more books by Kathryn Meyer Griffith in the near future.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

4. The Banshee and the Witch by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)Kathryn Meyer Griffith's Spooky Short Stories Book 2Length: 33 pagesGenre: Short StoryStarted/Finished: 26 January 2013Where did it come from? From AmazonHow long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 25 December 2012Why do I have it? I am beginning to like reading short stories and I have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

What would you do to live forever, stay young forever? To experience true love once more? And if you were a white witch with the magical powers to make it happen...and the secret of how to do it, would you? So when the banshee comes calling for you one rainy night you'll do what you have to do to get what you desire the most...more time.

I have to say that while I completely understand the witch Cleona's motivations to do what she did...and while nothing that she did was technically black magic, I think, I would perhaps say that Cleona practiced 'gray' magic - not actually harmful to herself or to other people, but certainly self-serving and focused on her own personal desires.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found it to be well-written, but it did leave me with one last unanswered question on my mind: once you get what you most desire, will you truly be content with it? I give this story an A! and am looking forward to reading the two other stories in this collection.

Friday, January 25, 2013

3. Ghost Brother by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)Kathryn Meyer Griffith's Spooky Short Stories Book 1Length: 23 pagesGenre: Short StoryStarted/Finished: 25 January 2013Where did it come from? From AmazonHow long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 25 December 2012Why do I have it? I am beginning to like reading short stories and I have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

So what happens after you die? Do you go to heaven...or hell? Or do you go to a special place fashioned just for you and based on the life you had lived; how you had treated people...what you did to them during your time on earth? And do ghosts really exist? Do they roam the earth and torment the living, persuading them to do things they shouldn't do? Two brothers and their tale follow...their journey through life and death. Their ultimate reward for the lives they'd lived.

I have to say that I haven't read that many short stories before. So, when I was able to, I decided to splurge and treat myself by buying two of the four stories in Kathryn Meyer Griffith's Spooky Short Stories Series for Kindle as a Christmas present for myself. These stories were originally released in September of 2012 in celebration of the Halloween season.

I like Kathryn Meyer Griffith's writing style and the characters that she creates. I have read seven books by Kathryn Meyer Griffith so far, and have many more of her books waiting on my TBR shelf. I am avidly looking forward to reading them as soon as I can.

Overall, I enjoyed this story very much. The characters were sympathetic up to a point and I never could pinpoint when Gerald - the 'Ghost Brother' in the story - had actually died. I know that both brothers had gone off to fight in Vietnam together, but it was never entirely clear - at least to me - if Gerald returned physically, or as a wraith from Vietnam to haunt his brother Bobby. I give this short story an A!A! - (90-95%)May you read well and often

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

2. Matching Wits With Venus by Therese Gilardi (2011)Length: 336 pagesGenre: Paranormal RomanceStarted: 8 January 2013Finished: 23 January 2013Where did it come from? Many thanks to Therese and the lovely tour guides from a long ago virtual book tour for originally sending me a copy of this book to read. I then bought another copy from Amazonas areplacement copy for the first one which was lost due to an unforeseen computer hard drive crash sometime in 2011, I thinkHow long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 7 December 2011Why do I have it? I like paranormal romance and Therese Gilardi is a new author for me.

For centuries, Cupid has longed to be more than just Venus' 'arrow boy' - and he has several ideas that he's sure his mother would appreciate, if only she'd listen to him. The problem is, "Happily Ever After By Amelia", the thriving matchmaking business that caters to the Hollywood set is threatening Venus' status as the goddess of love. When Cupid is sent to eliminate "Happily Ever After By Amelia", he is initially very curious about how and why Amelia Coillard has become so successful in her business. He decides to steal Amelia's methods and use them to make his own matches. While spying on Amelia, Cupid accidentally shoots himself with his own magical arrow and falls in love with her.

However, bereaved Amelia does not believe in the existence of the Roman gods, and she is certainly not looking for romance. She is too busy perfecting the patented personality profile that has made her Hollywood's favorite matchmaker. Disguising himself as a mortal financial adviser Cupid manages to break through Amelia's guarded exterior. As their passion deepens, so does Cupid's guilt about deceiving Amelia.

Cupid's interference with Amelia's life causes her business to falter, leads to a sterile spring that threatens the animal kingdom and shatters the longstanding peace between the Roman and Greek gods. With the fate of the natural and under worlds at stake, Cupid must decide whether to reveal his true identity and risk losing the chance to live happily ever after with Amelia.

I do have to say that I'm beginning to like stories with mythological plots although I haven't read very many of them. This book was extremely good, although it did take me a little while to get into. I give this book an A! and am looking forward to reading more of Therese Gilardi's books in the future.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Bev Spicer has a degree in English and French Literature (Keele University) and a PGCE in English methods (Queens' College, Cambridge).

She has lived in Bridgnoth, Cambridge, Rethymnon (Crete), Mahe (Seychelles), and now lives in Charente Maritime. The next place she wants to explore is probably Spain. Her husband is very tolerant.

She has been a teacher, blackjack dealer for Playboy, examiner, secretary (various sorts - most boringly 'legal') and Sunday checkout girl at Tescos. She loves people, reading, writing, speaking French, astronomy (quantum theory addict), gardening, travelling, and hates housework, cooking, drizzle and honey. Please take a look at my other books (My Grandfather's Eyes and Angels) both on Amazon and published under the name B. A. Spicer.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Since childhood I’ve always been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. I began writing novels at 21, over forty years ago now, and have had seventeen (ten romantic horror, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and two murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press and Amazon Kindle Direct.

I’ve been married to Russell for almost thirty-five years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois called Columbia, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha, live cats Cleo and Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

Synopsis from Shelfari: Two short works by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. Don't Look Back Agnes: Agnes Michaels is coming home. Home to her childhood town of Fairfield and the house her father lovingly built for her mother. A house surrounded by the woods where Agnes' two childhood friends and her boyfriend, Tyler, were all murdered twenty summers ago when she was just seventeen. She was the only one who escaped, but not without emotional and physical scars. Agnes knows that the woods and the evil entity that lives in it have been waiting for her all these years but she has no choice but to return to Fairfield and her mother's house when her mother falls very ill and needs her care. Agnes can no longer avoid her destiny. Because the killings have begun again and she's the only one who can stop them. And with the help of a new friend and Tyler's ghost, she'll defeat the evil and save another child's life. In This House: Bernard and Althea have lived their whole lives in the neighborhood, in the same house and have grown old there. But Deer Run's lead smelter plant has been buying out the houses around them because of lead contamination fears and now the lots are empty weeds and only their house remains. Their neighbors are gone. They're alone. Althea's been sick and Bernard cares for her even as he remembers how lovely she once was, all the friends they once had and all the good times they enjoyed when they were young. He loves her and he'll never leave her. They'll never leave their home. But they can't stop time and they're only waiting for their lonely daughter, Jenny, to make one last visit so they can say goodbye to her and introduce her to the man they know she's meant to be with...then they can leave this earth happy.

I would like to welcome Kathryn Meyer Griffith, author of Don't Look Back, Agnes and In This House to Emeraldfire's Bookmark. Ms. Griffith was kind enough to write a guest post for me and here it is below in her own words:

'The Story Behind Don't Look Back, Agnes and In This House: More Backstories'

The older I get, the more I like to reminisce and write about what I’m going through at any particular time. I guess it’s an age thing. So many of my stories and novels come about because of what I’m actually experiencing in my real life. Not all, but some.

But my novella, Don't Look Back, Agnes is definitely one such story.

At the end of 1998 my beloved father, the very heart (along with my mother’s mother, Grandmother Fehrt, who was also much loved) of my large family, passed away after a short but heartbreaking battle with lung cancer. He’d been a cigarette smoker his whole life so it wasn’t a complete shock that it ended up killing him. Yet the suddenness and the swiftness of his departure devastated my six siblings, my mother, grandmother, and me. It was a very dark time for us.

To complicate the matter, my brothers and sisters, myself included, were in our forties and working hard at our lives, our families and jobs, but my grandmother and mother were left living alone together and neither one drove; so both needed constant care and attention. My grandmother was in her eighties and my mother in her late sixties; though my grandmother was fairly healthy (she was spunky lady, with a zest for life, who’d emigrated from Austria as a child) my mother was already in a wheelchair, crippled from bad ankle surgeries, debilitating osteoarthritis and a host of heart related problems.

The first thing the family had to do was move them into town, nearer to some of us, and out of the country where they’d been living in the new sprawling house my father had built them just the year before. It was too hard caring for them way out there and the house was too big, too expensive. Boy, that was fun. They had so much stuff, so many memories to dispose of and cry over. We settled them in a small ranch house in town and life went on. Or tried to.

Now, I loved my mother and grandmother dearly but taking care of them was often difficult. Each needed concentrated care, love, endless visits to the doctor, prescriptions filled and, as time went on, housekeeping and grocery shopping help–and finally, someone to do their bills, my mother becoming too disoriented and sick to any longer do any of those chores. For a long time, years, my grandmother stepped up, even at her age, and became my mother’s constant nurse and helper. Their two Social Security checks combined were just enough for them to live on. It was a thin line they had to tread and we tried to help them every step of the way.

So, with love, sometimes desperation, and some bickering every so often between us siblings as to who would do what when, we took care of them and their whole household, their house. There were many late night runs to hospital emergency rooms, or long stays, and rehab centers for my mother, who steadily over the next nine years grew worse. By the end of 2005 it seemed we were always at the hospital with mom or grandma. My mom had her heart troubles, high blood pressure and medication problems, and my grandmother broke her hip. One thing after another. It was exhausting at times. Who’d ever think two sick old ladies could need so much care?

Then my grandmother got really ill and was rushed to the hospital. She needed emergency surgery and afterwards was in intensive care for a month…never recovered…then sadly joined our grandfather in the next life. We were all so brokenhearted.

That left our mother, all alone, without enough money to live on (her Social Security meager; no savings), and unable to care for herself or her three cats. Born an only child, she was a demanding sort of woman, almost childlike in her unending need for attention and devotion. She was terrified of going to a nursing home so the family did what we could to keep her in her own home as long as possible. My brother got her a reverse mortgage on her house and we all chipped in financially whenever and however we could. We fought the good fight but there came a day where mom got so sick, was rushed to the hospital so often, needed so much constant supervision, couldn’t get out of bed and some of us couldn’t lift her, that my siblings and I had to admit defeat…mom had to go into a nursing home or one of us had to move in with her, which wasn’t feasible. We were married with families and mom needed too much nursing care.

So a nursing home it was. We picked out a newly opened one in town, the nicest we could find, and the next time mom got sick we moved her into it for her recovery. Then told her the truth. The house was up for sale and the cats had been placed in new homes. I even took one, Patches (the cat in the story), because it was old and no one wanted her. My husband and I already had two cats but it was something I had to do…for mom. She really loved that cat as she’d really loved her home. But poor Patches, probably pining for her mistress and her old life, only lasted five months. I lied to my mother for months afterwards, afraid to tell her that the old cat had died (mom had always said that when Patches died, she’d die) and it tore me apart when I finally had to tell her. Mom had come to our house for a family Thanksgiving and I couldn’t hide the fact that Patches wasn’t there. Oh, that was hard. Telling her.

If anyone has ever put a parent or relative into a nursing home, they know the heartbreak it causes all around. My mother was inconsolable and my guilt was awful. But, as sick as mom had become, with so many prescriptions each day, hospital visits, and how most days she couldn’t even get out of bed or get to the bathroom, clean or feed herself…we had no choice. She stayed in that nursing home – although it was a bright cheery place with kind people running it – until she died two years later. The hardest two years of my life. I visited her often, shopped for her and kept her company. Decorated her room so it looked like a home. Brought her special lunches and little gifts. Fancy quilts and stuffed cats. It still broke my heart.

I began writing the novella, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, while she was there. A ghost story centered around a young woman who’s forced by grim circumstances into returning to her haunted, and deadly, childhood home because her mother is ill in a nursing home and needs her. Looking back now, I can see it was also my way of dealing with the nursing home guilt…of wishing for a different ending to mom’s life than what had occurred. Writing the story was my therapy. I cried all my sorrow out into those words and prayed to be forgiven for putting my mother into such a place.

Even In This House, the bonus short story included because it’s also a ghostly tale, deals with old age and the passing of all a person (or a couple in this instance) ever knew or loved as time and their lives slip away, as it must always do. At the same time I was writing the Agnes story I read an article in the newspaper about this old man who was the last resident of a neighborhood that had been systematically bought out and emptied by an iron smelter plant. He was the last one living there in the last house. He spoke of his loneliness since his wife had died; about her. Their past. It sparked the idea for In This House. Both stories deal with responsibility, sacrifice and…love. Love for a mate, for an aging parent, children, and a way of life or the loss of one’s independence that we all in the end have to relinquish in one way or another. Life’s sorrows faced with a brave smile to cover the tears.

I hope the two stories help anyone going through what I was going through in those difficult years. If they do, then the words have done their job.

Written by the author Kathryn Meyer Griffith this nineteenth day of December 2011

- Kathryn Meyer Griffith enjoys corresponding with her readers; join her at the following websites:

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Award-winning author Christine Amsden has written stories since she was eight, always with a touch of the strange or unusual. She became a “serious” writer in 2003, after attending a boot camp with Orson Scott Card. She finished Touch of Fate shortly afterward, then penned The Immortality Virus, which won two awards. Expect many more titles by this up-and-coming author.

Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family’s reputation isn’t easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs.

Cassie Scot, still stinging from her parents' betrayal, wants out of the magical world. But it isn't letting her go. Her family is falling apart and despite everything, it looks like she may be the only one who can save them.

To complicate matters, Cassie owes Evan her life, making it difficult for her to deny him anything he really wants. And he wants her. Sparks fly when they team up to find two girls missing from summer camp, but long-buried secrets may ruin their hopes for happiness. Book 2 in the Cassie Scot series.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Before taking up a permanent residence in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mimi spent time living near NYC (became a shopaholic), in Mexico City (developed a taste for very spicy food), and Arizona (now hates jumping chollas, but pines for sherbet sunsets). Her love of pre-Hispanic culture, big cities, and romance inspires her to write when she’s not busy with kids, hubby, work, and life…or getting sucked into a juicy novel.

She hopes that someday, leather pants for men will make a big comeback and that her writing might make you laugh when you need it most.

Trapped for decades, a powerful god seeks freedom...and revenge. But the only thing that can save him is the passion of a woman's touch...

Emma Keane is your average city girl trying to get a date. There's just one thing holding her back: the disembodied male voice speaking to her through her mind. Sound kind of crazy? Maybe. But crazy turns downright deadly when the voice persuades her to travel to the wilds of the Mayan jungle. There she will free his body - his incredibly hot, muscled, naked body.

Humans are so frail, so undisciplined, so susceptible to love. And when this ancient being connects with Emma, the feelings she sparks drive him utterly mad. Protective, keep-her-close, never-let-her-go kind of mad. Which might not be such a bad thing because from the moment the beautiful, passionate Emma unshackles his body, they are hunted at every turn. Now he'll have to do everything in his power to keep her safe. But will it be enough?

Giveaway of Two (2) Print Copies of 'Accidentally in Love With...a God?' by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

With his golden face beaming, the man smiled as he stroked my sopping wet hair and cradled me against his warm, smooth chest. “I love this dream,” I said with a breathy voice, then stretched my arms above my head, gazing happily into the most striking set of luminescent, turquoise green eyes I’d ever seen.

To boot, they belonged to a breathtaking, masculine face, a face one would expect to see on the cover of a magazine named something like, I’m Way Too Hot To Be Your Man, or In Your Dreams, Honey.
Oh, yeah. Without a doubt, I’d topped myself this time. Sculpted cheekbones, thick dark lashes, chiseled jaw, and lips so full they had to be meant for kissing or eating something really juicy. He was way hotter than the specimen of perfection from my last dream, and bonus, he didn’t have that scary vibe. I reached up and ran my fingertip along the ridge of his hard-lined warrior nose.

“Emma, what in the name of the gods’ creation are you doing?” he scorned. “We really don’t have time for your immature little fantasies. We’re in the middle of a crisis. Do you not remember?”

I blinked and slowly moved my eyes from side to side.

Jungle? I was in the jungle. And my clothes were wet. Come to think of it, for a dream, I didn’t feel so hot. My lungs burned, my body felt like it’d been chewed up, and my head was throbbing. So aside from the perfect man with long, damp, wavy black hair holding me in his arms, none of this felt like a dream. It felt -

“Holy Mother!” I pushed myself away and rolled into the dirt, pointing in disbelief. “Wha - you -you -?”

“Ah…so eloquent as always, my sweet. It is astounding - you actually have a college degree, yet cannot find better words.” He pushed himself up off the ground.

As he rose, my heart stopped, started, and then went into overdrive. His legs and spine straightened into a towering mass of unforgiving muscles. With shoulders like a lumberjack and thick, powerful thighs, I didn’t know if I wanted to run away or climb him like a tree. He was utterly enormous. Jolly Green Giant enormous. Except, obviously, not green. More golden brown. He was a gorgeous, towering mass of golden brown perfection.

No. Definitely not a cave-dwelling, wart-infested troll. Great. Just great. Now I knew I wasn’t crazy - Guy was definitely real - but now I also knew I was in way over my head. He was gorgeous.

I stood in awe, my mouth gaping as my eyes attempted to register every rope of muscle, every capacious curve packed with power. Christ, he had to be at least seven feet tall.

“Six nine, actually,” he said, guessing my thoughts.

“This can’t be possible,” I whispered, my eyes continuing to dart up and down the length of his body, stopping right on dark trail of hair that started just below his navel and continued down, down, down to his enormous beast of a - “Oh! You’re naked.” I turned sharply, but only to stop myself from reaching out to touch it. No man could be that…that…endowed. Wow. “This can’t be happening.” I covered my face.

“Emma,” he moved behind me, placing his powerful hands on my shoulders. A jolt shivered its way through my body.
I was wrong about the vibe. Way wrong. This man, or whatever he was, radiated hazard. He should come equipped with a set of blinking lights or flares. He was - “Bad. Very, very, bad,” I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose.

And pathetically, after everything that had happened, all I could think about was this naked, hard-bodied, glorious “man” who’d just permanently seared his image inside the storage compartments of my female DNA. All men, from this day forward, would have to survive a mental side-by-side comparison against him. They’d all lose.

Then a part of my brain, which was now marinating in a pool of whatever hormonal overload he’d triggered, was trying to tell me something important. It wasn’t ready to capitulate and hand over the keys to the Emma kingdom.

Ah…there it is. “Don’t touch me!” I swiveled sharply, pushing his hands from my body, pointing one angry finger in his face. “I asked you for one simple thing! One!”

The corners of his delicious lips curled as he arrogantly flipped his dark, wet hair over his bronzed shoulder. “Exactly. You asked.” He took one bold step forward, well within my personal-space bubble. Clearly, he was trying to intimidate me with his endless ripples and naked body. How sad. It was totally working, which made me even madder.

He bent down to meet my glare, his nose inches from mine. “But I didn’t agree. Did I? In fact, my exact words were, ‘I. Will. Not. Promise.’ Sharp emphasis given on the not, little girl.”

He so had this coming. I lifted my knee, thrusting squarely in his groin. The almost-seven-foot brawny male fell to his knees cupping himself.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Since childhood I’ve always been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. I began writing novels at 21, over forty years ago now, and have had seventeen (ten romantic horror, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and two murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press and Amazon Kindle Direct.

I’ve been married to Russell for almost thirty-five years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois called Columbia, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha, live cats Cleo and Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

Synopsis from Shelfari: Jenny and Jeff Sanders become victims of a bizarre crime; leaving Jeff dead and Jenny in a temporary coma. She returns to her children. With Jeff’s death she must move back to her childhood home, a haunted farmhouse, in Summer Haven, Florida, where once they destroyed a family of vampires.

Jenny has no appetite. She’s edgy. Her eyes hurt. She thinks it could be trauma or grief. Until one night she can’t resist the night woods or the overpowering urge to drink warm animals’ blood–and accepts the truth. Her attackers were vampires.

Now she’s becoming what she once reviled. She can’t abandon her children but must find a way to live in the human world. At night she hunts, in the day hides what she’s becoming and attempts to fit in.

Then townspeople begin dying. Like years before. With her blackouts, she fears she may be the killer, or is it her vampire attackers? For they've found her and demand she joins them–or her family will die. She resists until they kidnap her children. Then she has to find a way to outwit and ultimately destroy them.

Human No Longer. It’s my 17th published book – yeah! – and my fourth vampire novel. First, let me tell you where I got the idea for it. About five years ago, I was still trying to please the agent (who I no longer have) who’d sold four of my earlier paperback novels to Zebra in the 1990’s and, because she didn’t seem to like any of my new potential concepts, I asked her what she would like to see. Out of nowhere, she said, “You know your 1991 Zebra vampire novel, Vampire Blood? I liked that one a lot. The characters. Well, how about writing me a sort of sequel with basically the same cast, but with this premise: A woman, a mother, after being turned into a bloodthirsty vampire, must learn to adapt to the human world and still be a good mother. You know, how would she deal with everything when she had children she loved; didn’t want to hurt or leave them…but still had the need to feed on blood? Still had all the urges and desires of a vampire?"

Yikes. I hated the idea but, to please her, I went ahead and begrudgingly wrote the book. I tentatively called it The Vampire’s Children or The Vampire Mother or something like that. I finished it. Not too happy with it. I had never liked writing what other people wanted me to write. Stubborn, I guess.

My agent, in the meantime, had begun her own online erotic (which I don’t much care to write) publishing company and when I’d gotten done with the novel she was too busy to even read the finished book. She handed it off to an apprentice intern. An intern? What? Who didn’t like it at all. Duh. So, disgusted, I tucked the file away on my computer and, fed up with the whole agent thing, returned to writing what I wanted to write. An end of days novel called A Time of Demons and a new vampire novel where the evil vampire wasn’t a mother. In 2010 I went with a new publisher, Kim Richards at Damnation Books/Eternal Press, and she contracted not only those two books but asked me if I’d like to rewrite, update and rerelease all 7 of my older out-of-print Leisure and Zebra paperbacks going back to 1984. Heck yes, I said! So for the next 2 years I was busy doing that. Some of those books were over twenty-five years old and very outdated. Their rewriting, editing and rereleasing took a lot of work and time.

Then, in late 2012, I decided to take a very old book of mine (Predator) which was contracted to Zebra Paperbacks in 1993 but, in the end, never actually released, and just for the heck of it, as my 16th novel, self-publish it to Amazon Kindle Direct. Just in ebook form. A kind of grand experiment. The first time I’ve ever tried self-publishing. See how it’d sell. Dinosaur Lake. A story about a hungry mutant dinosaur loose in the waters of Crater Lake that goes on a rampage. Hey, I wrote Dinosaur Lake before Jurassic Park, the book, ever came out! Really. I had my cover artist, Dawne Dominique make a cover for it…and it was stunning with a dinosaur roaring on the front. And I did everything else myself. Editing. Proofing. Formatting. With forty years and endless publishers behind me I felt I was capable.

And it’d been selling sowell I decided to self-publish another one…and I remembered the mother/vampire book. Hmmm. So I revamped (ha, ha, inside joke), polished, and self-published it, as well. I retitled it Human No Longer. Got my fabulous cover artist, Dawne Dominique, to make me a lovely haunting cover with a troubled-looking woman standing outside a spooky house, with two children behind her in its shadows, on the front and voila! All in all, I don’t think the book turned out half bad. In fact, with the changes I made I think it’s not bad at all. Now I just hope my readers will like it.

So that’s the story of Human No Longer. My 17th published novel.***

Also, I have four audio books available now at Audible.com and Amazon.com…Dinosaur Lake, Witches-Revised, The Last Vampire-Revised, Egyptian Heart and Four Spooky Short Stories. Human No Longer will be an audible book, as well, by the end of 2013.

Monday, January 7, 2013

1. Fruit of my Spirit: Reframing Life in God's Grace by Deanna Nowadnick (2012)Length: 115 pagesGenre: Non-FictionStarted: 31 December 2012Finished: 7 January 2013Where did it come from? Many thanks to Deanna Nowadnick for sending me a copy of this book to read from Amazon.How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 13 September 2012Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and Deanna Nowadnick is a new author for me.

In a very personal memoir of missteps and misdeeds, Deanna Nowadnick writes of the enormity of God's love for, and faithfulness to all of His children. Reframing life in God's grace through her own unique experiences, she discovers an indescribable, indefinable, inexplicable love that has encircled her and sustained her without fail through joyous, sad, cringe-worthy, heartwarming, forgettable and memorable moments in life. Fruit of my Spirit is for anyone who has ever questioned God's ability to love and forgive, who has ever wondered about their place in God's family or God's place in theirs.

Fruit of my Spirit offers hope for those who dare to question, secretly wonder, but who fear to ask.Through Deanna's personal stories of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, you will experience the enormity of God, as well.

This was the first book that I read in the new year. I can see God at work all the time in my own life, and am always interested in learning how He reveals Himself through other people's lives. I give this book an A! and look forward to reading more from Deanna Nowadnick in the future.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Since childhood I’ve always been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. I began writing novels at 21, over forty years ago now, and have had seventeen (ten romantic horror, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and two murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press and Amazon Kindle Direct.

I’ve been married to Russell for almost thirty-five years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois called Columbia, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha, live cats Cleo and Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

Maggie Owens is a beautiful, spirited Egyptologist - but she is lonely. Even a trip to Egypt on a grant to search for a necropolis beyond the Gizah pyramids doesn't make her happy. Love is missing. Then she uncovers Ramose Nakh-Min's tomb and an amulet from his sarcophagus hurls her back to 1340 B.C., where she falls for Ramose, who serves Pharaoh Akhenaton, and who she's destined to love. Maggie's mistaken for a runaway slave and stands out with her fair coloring and jinn green eyes. Some say she's magical. Evil. Some try to kill her. She's fallen into perilous times. The people, angry that Pharaoh Akhenaton set Queen Nefertiti aside and forced them to worship Aton, instead of many gods, rise up against him. And Maggie's caught in the middle of it. Desperately in love with Ramose, she must find a way to remain with him, and to make a difference in his world. Maggie has finally found love.

Once again, I'm thrilled to welcome prolific author Kathryn Meyer Griffith, author of eighteen novels, two novellas and twelve short stories, back to Emeraldfire's Bookmark. Ms. Griffith was kind enough to write a guest post for me and here it is below in her own words:

'My Great Audio Book Adventure'

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

I’ve been writing for over forty years and published for thirty of them and have never had one of my eighteen novels, two novellas or twelve short stories put into audio. Always wanted to, but was never given the chance or had even thought much about it until the last few months. Too busy writing my novels and living my busy life. You know how it is. And until recently I’d believed only a publisher could afford/decide to turn an author’s novels into audio books. Then I discovered ACX (a fairly new website company that connects audio rights holders with narrator/producers so together they can create audio books) and all that changed. I write horror, romantic horror, suspense, romantic time-travel and murder mysteries and have always been told my stories would make good movies. I use a lot of dialogue; a lot of suspense, emotion and crisp language. And horror has always been a good genre to convert into film and audio…case in point, Stephen King. But, as I said, I hadn’t thought too much about them because, well, I was never offered either. And I was busy…writing. Trying to get published. Stay published. A big enough chore in itself as all writers know.

Anyway, in January 2013 I’d just spent the last three years exhaustingly rewriting and rereleasing all my fifteen older (and a few were new) novels going back to 1984 through my publishers Damnation Books/Eternal Press. The owner, Kim Richards, when she’d contracted my fourteenth and fifteenth novels, had asked me if I’d like to revise and republish my other older works. She’d discovered them on the Internet – my old Leisure and Zebra paperbacks and a few others, most out of print – and had thought it’d be great to bring them all out again. I was thrilled and quickly said yes. My earlier novels needed rewrites and new covers and most of them had never been in eBooks, which we would also put them into. So with Kim and her editors’ help we rewrote them and brought them out again between 2010 and 2012. Dawne Dominique did my amazingly stunning new covers. I’m really happy, proud, with how they turned out.

After that, deciding to try something new, I self-published my sixteenth (Dinosaur Lake, a sf/horror), seventeenth (Human No Longer, a vampire story) and eighteenth (Scraps of Paper, a murder mystery) novels. An experiment still ongoing. Though Dinosaur Lake, so far, is selling extremely well and has gathered over fifty good reviews on Amazon Kindle.

Then, as I was trying to decide what to do next – write a new book or take a well-deserved rest – a writer friend of mine sent me an email. “Have you heard of a website called ACX?” she asked. “They’re new. They’ll put your books out in audio. Take a look.” Hmmm. I took a look and the website, the whole concept, really excited me. You offer up your book/books/stories (if you own the audio rights) and ACX will connect you to a narrator/producer who’ll work with you to produce a first-rate audio book of your novel. But in the end, the choice is up to you. It looked easy enough. Offer on the website a four to five minute audition script, a section of your book you believe is a good sample of the book’s heart, and other details of your novel and wait until a narrator/producer makes an offer to produce it. I thought, “Well, I own total rights to my three self-published books and all the audio rights to my fifteen books with Eternal Press and Damnation Books, so I can do that.” Then I had another idea…ask my publisher if I could use their cover art. It would save me a fortune on getting new art for the audio editions. She and the cover artist agreed that if I put a disclaimer on the audio book cover referring the customers back to its publisher for the eBook and print, I could use their art on my audio books. My cover artist, because she’s a friend of mine, also said she’d reformat them to the required square 2400 x 2400 pixel size I’d need. What a deal. So generous of them.

So I offered up seventeen of my novels (and one short story collection) on ACX in January 2013…and was shocked and pleasantly pleased when within a month’s time eight were accepted! Five narrators/producers quickly sent me five minute audition MP3’s through ACX for all eight. And the quality of the narrators and their voices, their professionalism, was incredible. It was so neat hearing my words come to life after so many years with only the written version. I accepted each one, though I was a little overwhelmed at knowing I’d be juggling eight audio books at once; so I spaced out the final deadlines to fall between the end of March through the end of July. With the largest books later in the summer. Together, my five producers and I set a 15 minute section deadline and the completed book deadlines. Emailed back and forth getting to know each other. My first novel written, over forty years ago now, and my only historical romance, a so-called bodice-ripper (I know, I know… a horror author writing an historical romance…but I was young and hadn’t found my genre, my voice, yet…that came with my second novel in 1984) was even narrated by a woman using an English accent. I’d almost forgotten the book was 15th century England so the narrator would have one. So I smiled when I first heard her audition. My words, my characters, came alive. As I listened, I couldn’t believe, at times, some of the things I’d written. The years had faded the memories and the words. But always, I knew they were mine.

The other narrators/producers were excellent, as well. Two men and three women. Some of them are actors/actresses or voice over specialists. One woman produced audio books for the blind for many years before she came to ACX. All of them have their own in-home studios and know what they’re doing; most have many years of experience. Each has been a joy to work with. So far all have met our agreed on deadlines. All have stories of their own to tell. Over the months some of them have even become sort of email friends. They’re interesting, talented people. I’ve had so much enjoyment listening to their renderings and helping them edit the final product. I’m so pleased with what they’ve produced.

My first audio book, my 2007 ancient-Egyptian paranormal time-travel Egyptian Heart, was finalized on March 31 and I okayed it for release. It went up for sale on ACX (which is Amazon.com, iTunes and Audible.com) on April 18 – and it is already selling well.

The other audio books will follow one each month until all eight are up for sale. I still have a lot of listening to do, but it’s been fun, so I don’t mind. I’m just thrilled that my novels will be out there for people to listen to on their iPods, eReaders, computers and at iTunes. And if I’m lucky, soon the other ten will be snatched up by producers as well and every one will eventually become ACX audio books. I’m working on the last chapters of the audio book for WITCHES, my best-loved romantic horror novel…it should be out by the middle of June 2013. The Last Vampire will follow the next month. Well, that’s the story of my audio book adventure…so far. Stay tuned for further updates.

Written by the author Kathryn Meyer Griffith, this ninth day of May 2013

- Kathryn Meyer Griffith enjoys corresponding with her readers; join her at the following websites:

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Hello Everyone! I am extremely happy to announce that Roland Allnach will be touring the blogosphere to promote his most recent horror/paranormal/supernatural anthology Oddities and Entities. This is Roland's first virtual book tour with Pump up Your Book! He will be coming to a blog near youfrom February 4, to March 28, 2013! Come join us for all the fun!

Oddities and Entities Blog Tour Information:

Meet Roland Allnach

Roland Allnach has been writing since his early teens, first as a hobby, but as the years passed, more as a serious creative pursuit. He is an avid reader, with his main interests residing in history, mythology, and literary classics, along with some fantasy and science fiction in his earlier years. Although his college years were focused on a technical education, he always fostered his interest in literature, and has sought to fill every gap on his bookshelves.

By nature a do-it-yourself type of personality, his creative inclinations started with art and evolved to the written word. The process of creativity is a source of fascination for him, and the notion of bringing something to being that would not exist without personal effort and commitment serves not only as inspiration but as fulfillment as well. So whether it is writing, woodwork, or landscaping, his hands and mind are not often at rest.

Over the years he accumulated a dust laden catalog of his written works, with his reading audience limited to family and friends. After deciding to approach his writing as a profession, and not a hobby, the first glimmers of success came along. Since making the decision to move forward, he has secured publication for a number of short stories, has received a nomination for inclusion in the PushcartAnthology, built his own website, and in November 2010 realized publication for an anthology of three novellas, titled Remnant, from All Things That Matter Press.Remnant has gone on to favorable critical review and placed as Finalist/Sci-fi, 2011 National Indie Excellence Awards; Bronze Medalist, Sci-Fi, 2012 Readers Favorite Book of the Year Awards; and Award Winner-Finalist, Sci-Fi, 2012 USA Book News Best Book Awards. Roland’s second publication, Oddities and Entities, also from All Things That Matter Press, followed in March 2012. It, too, has received favorable critical review, and is the recipient of four awards: Bronze Medalist, Horror, and Finalist, Paranormal, 2012 Readers Favorite Book of the Year Awards; Award Winner-Finalist, Fiction/Horror and Fiction/Anthologies, 2012 USA Book News Best Book Awards.

His writing can best be described as depicting strange people involved in perhaps stranger situations. He is not devoted to any one genre of writing. Instead, he prefers to let his stories follow their own path. Classification can follow after the fact, but if one is looking for labels, one would find his stories in several categories.

Sometimes speculative, other times supernatural, at times horror, with journeys into mainstream fiction, and even some humor - or perhaps the bizarre. Despite the category, he aims to depict characters as real on the page as they are in his head, with prose of literary quality. His literary inspirations are as eclectic as his written works - from Poe to Kate Chopin, from Homer to Tolkien, from Flaubert to William Gibson, from Shakespeare to Tolstoy, as long as a piece is true to itself, he is willing to go along for the ride. He hopes to bring the same to his own fiction.

Oddities and Entities is a surreal, provocative anthology of six tales within the supernatural/ paranormal/horror genres, exploring a definition of life beyond the fragile vessel of the human body. The stories are: ‘Boneview’, in which a young woman struggles to balance her ability to see through people with the presence of a supernatural creature in her life; ‘Shift/Change’, in which a hospital worker struggles to regain his memory as he is confronted by a series of desperate people; ‘My Other Me’, in which a lonely college student finds himself displaced from his body by his alter ego; ‘Gray’, in which a frustrated man is stunned to discover a little creature has been living in his head; ‘Elmer Phelps’, in which a brother and sister find themselves linked in a strange reality by a bat bite in their youth; and lastly, ‘Appendage’, in which a cynical mercenary is hired by his son to protect a research lab on the verge of a stunning discovery.

Praise for Oddities and Entities:

Oddities and Entitiesby Roland Allnach, categorized as horror fiction, is unlike any other horror fiction I have ever encountered. The book is comprised of six stories, each of which is written a cut above the norm. There are no recognizable monsters in these stories, no sophomoric zombies, no evil ancient vampires, and none of the standard fare I have become accustomed to in the horror genre. I do like the usual run of the horror genre, but this book is written with thoughtful intelligence, for an intelligent adult reader. I do not mean to imply sexual situations or coarse language. What I mean is, any intelligent reader, capable of deep thought, will find this book irresistible. The six individual stories are as unlike as any six stories can be, yet each one is so sufficiently well-written that, if sold as individual short stories, I wouldn't hesitate to award 5 stars to each of them.To say I like this book is a crass understatement. Each story drew me in and evoked my empathy for various characters. These stories forced me to actually think beyond what I was reading. Each premise was unique, at least in my experience; I have never encountered any other stories that even approach the situations these present with authority and authenticity. If I could boil down my perception of this book into a single word, that word would be WOW! Roland Allnach's first anthology, Remnant, which I have also read, was placed as a finalist in the Science Fiction category in the 2011 National Indie Excellence Awards. I absolutely expect Oddities and Entities to follow suit. If you read only one book this year, make it this one. Be prepared to have your comfort zone challenged.- Readers Favorite (ReadersFavorite.com)

About Me

I was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but moved to America when I was five a half. My parents owned two Irish restaurants - one in Albany, New York the other in Dennisport, Cape Cod. I host an Irish radio program with my mom in upstate New York called 'Proud to be Irish'. I'm an avid reader, love history (mainly Irish history), writing, listening to music, and arts and crafts. I also love to laugh and meet new people. I am cheerfully owned by three adorable eight year old rescue cats named Ruby, Leila and Lollipop.